Newsletter

Campus looking shabbier

As residents of Augusta, my husband and I enjoy frequent walks through the Summerville campus of Georgia Regents University. We have watched the campus change and grow in the deconstruction and growth phase of the past decade. During that time, it has evolved into one of the most beautifully and well-maintained properties in all of Augusta.

In recent walks, we have observed the grounds to have an unkempt and neglected air. The shrubs are untrimmed; the beds overgrown with weeds; the grass is dry and weed-filled; and bulbous vines are growing in most of the beds. The rose garden, a particular pleasure of ours, appears untended, and many of the bushes seem to be dying. These observations were not limited to one area but seemed to be throughout the grounds.

In a discussion with several campus security people, we were told that after the merger the groundskeeping was contracted out, and since that change the grounds have come to their present state. Walking around the campus recently made me wonder how soon the grounds will take on an air of abandonment if the current level of maintenance continues. It is not at all what I expect from a world-class university.

If it is a question of budget, as I imagine it is, it makes one wonder how the grounds were able to be so beautifully maintained prior to the merger, and to where those funds have been diverted. I hope this issue will be addressed by the university before the stress of summer adds to the state of deterioration, and the campus becomes an eyesore rather than a gem.